New Details about Brad Bird and Damon Lindelof’s 1952; Looking to Recapture the Spirit of CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND [Correction]

Back in May, we reported that Brad Bird was set to direct a mysterious blockbuster for Disney entitled 1952. Written by Damon Lindelof, details on the project were practically non-existent, but new information has come to light. According to Vulture, the movie is about aliens making first contact on Earth in the present day. Furthermore, Bird and Lindelof are reportedly looking to make the movie in the vein of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and the protagonist will be a man in his mid-40s like Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss). No word if this man will go crazy, play with his food, and abandon his family to live with the aliens. [Correction: Vulture has updated its story to note that while 1952 is similar in the sense of Neary’s journey–putting the pieces together to solve a mystery–the film will not involve contact with aliens.]

Hit the jump for more on 1952.

Sources tell Vulture that the title, 1952, is a reference to a banker’s box of files and documents that had been left in Walt Disney’s personal development lab. The box was originally used for 1965’s That Darn Cat, but that title had been crossed out and in its place was written “1952”. The contents of the box were documents and primary source materials that look like someone had been working on a project about alien contact. Additionally, “1952” could refer to the “Washington flap“, where it seemed like seven UFOs appeared on radar at National Airport.

For me, the most striking reveal in all of this is that the Walt Disney Company can’t afford to buy new banker’s boxes and simply reuses the ones it already has.

Finally, Vulture reports that there could be a heavy J.J. Abrams-like advanced viral campaign that will involve a treasure hunt, which will gradually reveal clues about the movie. So if you want to work to be advertised to, this sounds like a great time.